


Our Hoard

by HashtagLEH



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bucky Barnes Is Not Perfect, But then this happened, Cheating, Communication Failure, D/s undertones, Domestic Disputes, Dragon Bucky Barnes, Dragon Steve Rogers, Dragon Tony Stark, Feral Behavior, Frenemies Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson, Lack of Communication, Like, M/M, Miscommunication, Multi, NO ONE IS!, No Smut, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Bucky Barnes, Possessive Steve Rogers, Possessive Tony Stark, Sam Wilson is So Done, Sam Wilson is a Gift, Scenting, Shapeshifting, Slow Burn, Steve Rogers is not perfect, Tony Stark Is Not Perfect, and it will be okay I promise because I don't like sad endings, and...more, because Avengers, because guess what, because of dragon instincts, everything is pretty much the same except Steve and Tony are secretly dragons, it will be explained, it's on accident, kind of?, some may call it unhealthy but I'm blaming the dragon instincts to get away with it, somehow that leads to smooching, steve messes up, super possessive, they fix it though, this was supposed to be fluffy and world building not angsty, together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2019-10-29 21:35:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17815925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HashtagLEH/pseuds/HashtagLEH
Summary: There was a sharp inhale in front of him, and his eyes darted up to meet the Captain’s. The blond’s normally blue eyes swirled golden with alertness and curiosity and just a bit of warning – something he was sure was reflected in his own. He felt the vibrations of a low growl coming from the Captain – not threatening, exactly, but searching and evaluating. It was at a register too low for the other humans in the quinjet to notice.An AU where Tony and Steve are secretly dragons.





	1. Golden Eyes

When Tony stepped aboard the quinjet after the showdown with Loki, the first thing he did was of course remove his helmet. Immediately the usual air filtration through his suit disappeared and he caught scent of…

Surprised and caught off guard, he snorted once and stopped breathing, feeling his blood begin to heat beneath his skin.

There was a sharp inhale in front of him, and his eyes darted up to meet the Captain’s. The blond’s normally blue eyes swirled golden with alertness and curiosity and just a bit of warning – something he was sure was reflected in his own. He felt the vibrations of a low growl coming from the Captain – not threatening, exactly, but searching and evaluating. It was at a register too low for the other humans in the quinjet to notice…but there was an alien on board as well, and his green eyes watched them with amusement.

Tony distantly noted this, keeping eye contact with the Captain in challenge and not backing down one iota. A thin, almost nonexistent trail of steam blew out his nostrils as he began to breathe again now that he’d identified what had alerted him. His own chest rumbled with vibrations, and he curled his lip slightly in warning. As though the weather was helping him out, thunder boomed outside and lightning flashed in warning, lighting up the entire flying vehicle.

Finally, it was the Captain who backed down, and as soon as his eyes began to turn blue again, Tony followed, matching him breath for breath. They kept eye contact for long moments before the Captain looked at Loki and raised a single eyebrow at the fear and trepidation he saw there.

“What’s the matter?” he said, and his voice was normal, no hint that anything had just occurred between him and Tony. “Afraid of a little lightning?”

***

After the battle, and after shawarma, Tony invited all of them to come live with him. He couldn’t help it – instincts told him that these people were _his_ , and he needed to keep them close. Rogers…well, he was like him, so he didn’t feel that tug so much, but it would’ve been awfully strange to invite everyone to live with him _except_ American Anachronism. And he supposed that the guy wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. They’d actually worked really well in the battle, all previous animosity shoved aside in favor of defending their city and their world. So it really shouldn’t be _too_ much of a hardship to invite the Adonis along with the rest of them.

And when he asked all of them along, Rogers looked at him with a raised eyebrow, as though asking, _me too?_ – and Tony allowed his eyes to briefly flash with gold before going back to a neutral, more human expression. This was all the confirmation the man needed, and he smiled warmly, a little rumble echoing in his chest in appreciation.

It was just a _bit_ too loud, though, because Bruce glanced over at them as though searching for the source of the noise, looking a bit confused, and the blond’s rumbling immediately cut off when he noticed. Tony smirked a bit to himself at that. The rest of the Avengers would find out about the dragons in their midst eventually. It would be fun to keep it a secret as long as he could, though.


	2. Me Too

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People who rub each other the wrong way make the best sparks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it would only be three chapters...but upon writing out the next one it went longer than expected and there will be four. Yay!

The two of them never expected how their feelings would turn everything around.

Tony supposed he should have expected it, later on as he thought about what had brought the two of them to that point. In the beginning there had been tension, and he wasn’t sure he could blame it completely on recognizing each other as dragons. They had fallen into each other before they’d known each other for an entire month.

“You are infuriating,” Steve breathed against his lips, before he enveloped said lips with his own. Tony fought for dominance against Steve’s tongue, neither of them wavering in the slightest and causing tendrils of smoke to steam out their noses at the effort.

“And you are completely insufferable,” Tony shot back, biting down sharply on Steve’s bottom lip and scratching his nails down Steve’s back. “But you know what they say…people who rub each other the wrong way make the best sparks.”

Steve let out a growl that vibrated through the both of them, and moved his hands from Tony’s back to his ass, squeezing and kneading before he grabbed him up to sling his legs around his waist. Tony was only too happy to oblige, lunging forward and running his fingers through Steve’s hair, tugging it to jerk his head back so he could bite a trail down his neck.

Steve let out a groan when Tony bit a particularly sensitive spot, his hands spasming from where they grasped at Tony’s ass. Tony felt Steve’s muscles relax slightly under him and licked over the bite in reward for his submission. A pleased rumble went through his chest as his touch gentled slightly, nails no longer digging but scratching.

Steve, even his lust however, recognized Tony’s actions for what they were, and before Tony registered what was happening, Steve had spun them around so that he could slam Tony against the wall. He practically tore Tony’s shirt off, but Tony really couldn’t bring himself to care when Steve’s mouth descended first in the hollow of his throat, before he was biting and sucking his way down Tony’s torso. Tony hadn’t even realized that in his distraction Steve had gotten his pants open until he was descending on the body part that needed the most attention at the moment, and all Tony could do was gasp and moan as Steve went to work on him. Steve’s eyes were challenging and completely golden as he stared up at Tony, but for the moment Tony didn’t even mind. Steve knew exactly what he was doing, but Tony didn’t even have the brain to wonder where Steve had learned this until much later.

Several minutes later, they had finally made it into the bedroom, where their combined stamina had kept them up and going for several hours. Later on, it didn’t really matter who was dominating and who was submitting – they both enjoyed them in equal measure. And finally, after Tony had lost count of how many times they had each come, they settled down with sweat-slick bodies to get their breath back.

“We should’ve done this _weeks_ ago,” Tony finally said with a grin, glancing over at Steve’s pleased expression. His hair was plastered to his forehead by his sweat, but there was a little tuft of it on top of his head that had been spiked up by Tony’s hand grabbing it to yank his head back.

Steve huffed. “Maybe if I’d thought you were _interested_ …”

“And what impression did I give that I wasn’t?” Tony said amusedly, licking his top lip and tasting the salty sweat that clung there.

“Maybe the way you made clear that everything outside of my floor was part of _your_ hoard?” Steve said dryly.

Tony smirked amusedly. “It _is_ my Tower,” he said, which was as close to admission as Steve was ever going to get. Steve didn’t mind. At least it no longer said “Stark” on the outside of the Tower, like that wasn’t the biggest dick-measuring contest he had ever seen. He was certain that it was also no coincidence that the Tower itself was very phallic in its design.

After that occurrence, Steve and Tony had naturally fallen into each other more often, which had led to dating, which had led to teasing from the rest of the team, but they didn’t really care about that part.

As time went on, they grew closer as a team and became something of a family as they fought against villains too much for the police to handle.

And yet somehow, it still came as a surprise the first time Clint had referred to the two of them as “Mom” and “Dad”.

It had been completely innocuous and out of the blue. Sure, he had called the two of them together “Mom and Dad” before, but that had just been in jest, like when they were arguing and he made some comment about no one being happy when the parents were unhappy.

But then, after a battle against a house-sized rattlesnake, Clint called to them from his spot on top of one of the buildings. Steve and Tony weren’t even _near_ each other, let alone arguing, so the names were rather out of the blue.

“Mom, Dad,” he said into the comms as he climbed down to reach the rest of them. “I vote we skip debrief and go for tacos. Let SHIELD clean this up. Aye?”

“AYE!” Thor boomed, dropping from the sky with hammer in hand. “I know not what these ‘tacos’ are, but Friend Clint has wise judgement in appetizing sustenance!”

“Yesterday he put apple juice on his fruity pebbles because we ran out of milk,” Natasha said flatly, retrieving one of her blades from where it had landed on the ground in the fight.

“Perfection is never perfect,” Thor said wisely, undeterred by her argument. “For it is in the flaws that true beauty is found.”

“Did Thor just call Clint beautiful?” Bruce wondered as he stumbled up to them, clutching at his pants.

“Did Clint just call us ‘Mom and Dad’ unironically?” Tony countered as his suit touched down to the ground with the rest of them. He flipped his faceplate up to look at them without the barrier of information that Jarvis always had running across the screens.

“Uh – yeah?” Clint said like it should have been obvious, giving Tony a weird look. “You guys have been Mom and Dad for _months_.”

“Since when?” Tony demanded, before he shook his head. “More importantly, who is Mom and who is Dad?”

“Steve’s ‘Mom’,” Natasha said blandly, like she was bored of this conversation already and just wished they were smart enough to keep up.

“What?” Steve said from where he had been resting on a broken bit of rubble since the beginning of the conversation. “Why am _I_ the mom?”

“Because you have a radar for when anyone else is upset,” Clint explained. “We start being sad or negative, seconds later you’re leaning in the doorway with that stupid face going, ‘Hey. Wanna talk about it?’ _Obviously_ you’re the mom.”

“And what makes me the dad in this scenario?” Tony questioned with a raised eyebrow, hands on his hips.

“You’re the breadwinner,” Bruce said matter-of-factly. “And you’re the one who’s all, ‘go get ‘em, champ! You can do this!’ and then if we don’t you’re all tough love and ‘rub some dirt in it’ kind of attitude.”

“ _Obviously_ you’re the dad,” Clint echoed his previous sentiment.

Tony shook his head in bafflement that his team could even come up with these ideas. He glanced at Steve to see what he thought of this, but Steve wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at the ground, lips pursed and brow furrowed in a familiar expression of deep thought.

“So…tacos?” Clint prompted.

“I say let’s go for it,” Tony sighed, a bit surprised when Steve didn’t object.

Later, after Tony and Steve started kissing but before clothes were even shed, Steve blurted, “They’re my hoard, too.”

Tony stopped the ministrations with his tongue behind Steve’s ear, pulling back to look at Steve, not sure he’d heard right.

“What?” he said confusedly, feeling the gold fade from his eyes as his libido was checked.

“The team,” Steve explained, looking a touch too calm not only for his position but also for the words coming out of his mouth. “I count them as part of my hoard, too.”

“Me too,” Tony agreed, and then the realization struck. He didn’t feel threatened by the other dragon claiming a part of his hoard for his own.

“I suppose that means it’s _our_ hoard,” Steve voiced what Tony was thinking. He watched Tony carefully, like he was waiting for disagreement.

But Tony’s mood was the furthest from disagreeable. He beamed at Steve, feeling his eyes warm to golden once again.

“Are you _proposing_ to me, Captain?” he said lightly.

At the happiness he could feel and see in the brunette, Steve relaxed a bit before he shook his head. “Not yet,” he denied. “But…I wouldn’t mind working in that direction.  Would that be okay with you?”

Tony nodded agreeably. “Sounds great to me,” he said honestly with a quirked smile, then leaned in again to descend once more on Steve.

After all, they already shared a hoard, and had done so without problem and without even realizing it. The rest of the team realized it too, even if they thought it was something else. He knew already where this was going.


	3. Protective Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't touch Tony's stuff.

Tony wasn’t there when it happened.

No, Tony was at a work conference on the other side of the country when the rest of the Avengers were at a gala. Tony hadn’t wanted to go, but Pepper had insisted that he needed to show his face on the West Coast, because it had been more than six months since he had visited that SI location and they needed a boost of morale. Not to mention reassurance that he wasn’t quitting anything in the least, because they were all worriers about that sort of thing.

So maybe he liked New York more than he did Malibu. And maybe it had something to do with a certain Captain. But he was still the owner of Stark Industries, and they really shouldn’t just assume he’d up and retire. He was only forty years old, for fuck’s sake. He had no intention of retiring for at _least_ another twenty more years.

But, he had agreed to go to the meeting to appease Pepper more than anyone else. He was tempted to ask Steve to come with him for the company – company of a much different sort than Pepper’s – but he knew that Steve needed to be with the rest of the Avengers in case of emergency.

He kicked himself for it later however, when he received word that all of the Avengers had been kidnapped right out of the gala, including Steve. Apparently they had all been heavily drugged before being carted away in a large van.

Tony didn’t even know what sort of drug could _possibly_ be strong enough to knock Steve down – besides the super soldier serum running through his veins, he also had dragon blood on his side. But he had no time to worry about that as he hopped on his private jet back to New York as soon as he found out what had happened to his teammates.

It made national and probably even _inter_ national news before the day was out, so he was certain that the people who would have been at the meeting understood the sudden cancellation. If not, well fuck them anyway.

Someone had stolen from _his_ hoard.

Someone was going to _pay_.

***

When Tony discovered where his teammates were being held, he didn’t bother with the Iron Man suit. He didn’t intend to let anyone in the facility make it out alive – there was no need to hide his nature. It was a large warehouse-like building in Maine, in the middle of nowhere and with no witnesses around to see. This entire _base_ was being leveled before the day was out.

He came descending on the base with scaly wings. Immediately the guards outside were shooting at him, but even as he landed on his feet and his body rippled back to that of a man, fire shot from his mouth, incinerating them all instantly and reducing the bullets to melted lead and copper.

He yanked the front door off its hinges, tossing it behind him. He stalked through the halls, blasting anyone he came across with a breath of flame. He couldn’t bring himself to feel any remorse for it – all of them had participated in stealing from _his_ hoard; there could be no mercy here.

He followed the scent of blood, knowing that it would be his teammates, and before long he came to a thick metal door that was deadbolted shut. He smacked it with his hand, feeling it vibrate at the force but only denting slightly.

It took several more hits, but finally the door burst open, the deadbolt bent so badly that it couldn’t hold the door closed any longer.

And on the other side of the door, his teammates were in individual glass domes. They all had a hazy green glow about them that Tony recognized immediately as magic.

Fiery eyes swept across the room, taking in the people that were clearly scientists, who were currently staring at him with eyes widened in fear. He made a gesture, and they all immediately scurried away from him, moving to the other side of the room. Tony knew not to underestimate scientists, and that was the only reason they had been kept alive this long. They might have information that he needed before he could incinerate them, too.

“Tony!” Tony heard Steve’s voice call, tinny through the speaker on the outside of the dome he was in.  He looked over to see that Steve looked delighted to see him, but not in the least surprised. The dragon inside of him purred happily at the confidence his mate had in him.

“’Bout time you got here, Stark,” Clint drawled, sounding unconcerned but sharp eyes watching him. Clint recognized a difference in him – he could see the primal nature that was so very close to the surface. “Why’d you take off the suit, though?”

Tony didn’t bother responding as he drew nearer to the glass cages. Looking at all of them, they were all tired, looking drained. He figured it must be whatever magic was covering the domes.

“It suppresses anything outside of normal human DNA,” Steve reported, instinctively knowing what Tony was thinking. Tony’s eyes travelled across Steve’s form, taking in his pale features that looked just a bit gaunt, cheeks pink like he was developing a fever. He looked across at Bruce, who was definitely not big and green, because surely the Hulk would have been able to break out of these domes, and then at Thor, who looked sicker than the rest of them. He supposed that made sense – alien DNA and all that. He didn’t have the benefit that Steve and Bruce did of having _some_ human DNA inside them. Natasha and Clint looked fine, merely irritated at the inconvenience of being trapped with no lock to pick to get them out. All of the controls were on the outside of the glass.

“Who is stabilizing this magic?” Tony demanded, his voice coming out in a rough growl as his dragon side pushed closer to the surface.

“That one,” Natasha said, pointing to the group of the scientists. Tony followed her gaze to a wide-eyed woman in her late twenties. Unlike the rest of them, she was not wearing the lab coat of a scientist.

“I’ll take it off!” she squeaked immediately, before Tony even had to move over there and begin threatening. “Please don’t kill me!”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Tony snarled. “You took what was _mine_.”

“If I die, the magic stays!” she said immediately. “I’m the only one who can take it off!”

“Now, why don’t I believe you?” Tony mused. “Oh, maybe it’s because that’s not true for _anyone_ else. Why should it hold true for _you_?”

“Tony, they threatened her sister,” Steve said behind him, which was the only thing that stopped Tony from killing her right then and there. “She’s a prisoner as much as we are.”

“Take it off _now_ , and you live,” Tony told her flatly, eyes steely and unforgiving. She immediately did as bidden, hands going up and dismantling the green film around each of the five glass domes.

Immediately Tony went to the main controls, pressing each of the buttons to lift the domes and release the prisoners inside.

Steve was looking better as soon as he was released, the serum working its magic to heal him. Tony noticed this only distantly though, lunging over to shove his lips roughly into Steve’s. Steve was immediately grabbing him, pulling him closer like he would never let go, nipping and biting Tony’s lips harshly in return. Both were growling deep in their chests, the register only faintly recognized by the rest of them.

“Please don’t have sex in a Hydra facility,” Natasha said idly, pulling their minds back to the present. After a couple more bites, Tony tore his lips from Steve’s to let his gaze roam over the rest of them. Steve was his mate and his hoard, but the others were part of his hoard too, and he had to see that _they_ were all safe, too.

“Whoa,” Clint was the one to say what the rest of them were all thinking when they saw their two leaders looking at them. “Don’t you guys usually have blue eyes? Why are both your eyes _golden_?”


	4. Explaining It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanations are had.

“So you’re dragons,” Bruce repeated after Steve and Tony had both helped in sharing their dual natures with the rest of the team.

“Well, I’m not a _full_ dragon,” Steve corrected. He was seated next to Tony, arm around him and touching from shoulder to ankle. His thumb swept in absentminded motions across Tony’s shoulder, soothing him and reminding them both that they were there, that their hoard was _safe_.

“For that matter, neither is Tony,” Steve went on. “But Tony is more dragon than I am, because he was born with it in his blood while I was just given it along with the super soldier serum. But he can change forms; I can’t. I just have all of the instincts.”

“And partial change,” Tony put in. “That’s why he gets golden eyes and scales and sharper teeth. But he’s still recognizable as human, just maybe one who’s _really_ good at cosplay.”

“Do you have horns?” Clint asked curiously, not looking at all bothered by the fact that the full humans on the team were now outnumbered by an alien, two dragons, and a shape shifting rage monster.

Tony smirked. “A couple rows of them,” he said smugly.

“Wait,” Natasha stopped them, “Steve, did the dragon blood in your serum come from Tony’s father?”

“Probably,” Steve said unconcernedly. “He was very involved in Erskine’s serum; it would make sense that he would provide his own blood as an ingredient to make it different.”

“So wouldn’t that make you and Tony sort of siblings?” Natasha went on with a raised eyebrow. “Since you both have Howard’s blood to make you dragons?”

Tony laughed outright at that. “If you need a blood transfusion, does that mean you’re related to the one who gave you blood?” he countered. “The blood is what caused the serum to work, and yes it did cause a change to his genetic makeup, but a paternity test would not have Howard as a match for Steve. His body absorbed and adapted what it took.”

“It makes sense why I was never able to get the serum to work right, without that dragon blood,” Bruce said thoughtfully.

“Most of the world isn’t even aware that dragons _exist_ ,” Tony pointed out. “So your not thinking of that particular ingredient is understandable.”

“So you both consider us all to be part of your hoard,” Natasha stated.

Tony was unbothered by the comment, but Steve pinkened slightly, knowing how it sounded to someone without experience with dragons.

“We don’t see you as _property_ ,” Steve hastened to clarify. “With people, it just translates to…extreme protectiveness. When you’re in danger, it makes us very paranoid.”

“And hence the drive to find, collect, and protect the rest of your hoard all in one place,” Tony added.

“I am quite honored to be considered a part of your hoard, Friend Anthony and Friend Steven!” Thor expressed with a beaming smile, speaking up for the first time since they had finished their explanation. “’Tis a true joy when your presence can be valued so highly!”

Steve chuckled. “No problem, Thor.”

“So is that why you invited all of us to live in the Tower?” Clint questioned. “To gather your hoard in one spot?”

“Got it in one,” Tony agreed. “It’s not really something we can help, the instinct to hoard. After we fought the first time, my dragon decided to claim you all. I mean really, we hardly knew each other. Didn’t you think it was a bit odd I was putting so much trust in all of you guys that I would invite you not only into my living space, but would give you guys entire floors to yourselves?”

“I guess I just figured that was the ‘eccentric’ part in ‘eccentric billionaire’,” Clint answered dryly.

“Do Rhodes and Pepper know?” Bruce asked Tony.

Tony snorted in response. “Rhodey has been my best friend since I was fifteen, and Pepper runs my entire life. Of _course_ they know.”

“That explains why you gave Pepper the job of CEO and Rhodes the War Machine suit,” Natasha commented. “Instinct to please your hoard and keep them close.”

“I gave Pepper the job of CEO because she does I far better job at it than I ever have done or ever would do,” Tony corrected.

“And I suppose a twin of Iron Man is just your version of friendship bracelets,” Bruce teased, to Tony’s indignant look.

“Wait a second,” Clint said suddenly. “I may not be well versed in my myths about dragons, but don’t dragons usually sleep with their hoards?”

“Did I not just mention how you have your own floors here?” Tony shot back.

But Steve hummed a bit and said, “It’s true that being in the same building helps. But I think it’s also that Tony and I see each other as part of our hoard. Considering that we literally sleep together, I think that it curbs our baser instincts to have our hoard as close as possible.”

“Not to mention that I’m very used to sleeping apart from my hoard,” Tony said frankly. “Rhodey Bear is always out of state or out of country, Pepper sleeps at her own house even though she has a perfectly convenient floor for use here – she said she wants to be able to actually _leave_ work to go home, but whatever – and if I moved my bed into the workshop it would always be getting ruined by a stray fire or something.”

Clint grinned suddenly. “So ‘Mom and Dad’ is fairly accurate then,” he said smugly. “’Cause you see us as _yours_.”

“Alright,” Bruce said, not allowing either of the two dragons to respond to that comment. “I can forgive that you kept us in the dark about this, though I suspect that it was more to do with the fact that you wanted to mess with us rather than a lack of trust.

“But, if I _ever_ see you incinerating people with your _breath_ again, we are going to have _words_.”

“It wasn’t actually _breath_ ,” Tony started, ready to explain the mechanics of breathing fire to his Science Bro, but Natasha cut him off before he could go further.

“So long as you two don’t let this affect anything serious, your secret’s safe with us,” she said bluntly.

“Yeah, what she said,” Clint said, and then looked at them all seriously. “Now, to the _truly_ important questions...who wants to be beaten again at Mario Kart?”

***

Hours later, after Tony and Steve had reaffirmed each others’ presence and safety several times over, they lay in the bed, unable to remain apart for long and having to content themselves with linked pinkies to let themselves cool off.

Finally, Tony rolled over, pressing himself to Steve’s side and slinging his arm across Steve’s middle in a simulation of a hug.

“I love you,” he hummed. “I’m glad nothing happened to you.”

“You too, Tony,” Steve responded, scratching behind Tony’s ear with the hand closest to him. It was an action that he had been surprised to discover soothed him, much like a cat being petted. Sure enough, a rumbling purr began to vibrate in Tony’s chest as he snuggled deeper into the blond.

“Don’t get kidnapped again, mkay?” Tony murmured into Steve’s pectoral muscle, eyes half-lidded as he enjoyed the scratches.

He felt Steve’s chest move with his chuckle. “I’ll certainly do my best not to,” he agreed.

“Good,” Tony declared. His eyes flashed gold with possessiveness. “Because you’re _mine_.”

Steve pressed a kiss to the top of Tony’s head, his own eyes mirroring Tony’s for a moment. “Mmhm. Just like you’re mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I'll expound on this world, but I do have a couple of ideas floating around that may or may not materialize at some point (how I deal with Bucky being at the top of the list). So if you have ideas that you want to see, let me know and I'll see if I can work at it.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and for your support!


	5. Caged Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another dragon arrives at the Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys I meant to crank out another chapter of Heart and Soul, because I have neglected it for far too long. But...I wrote this instead.
> 
> On other things I'm procrastinating, I have a lot of science homework to go do now because it's due in two hours and I haven't started it at all. D':

Smoke flared from the dragon’s nostrils, displaying for all to see how agitated he was. Tony supposed it made sense – if he had been kept in a glass cage by strangers for a week now, he would be a bit agitated by now as well.

Of course, he would’ve been agitated a lot sooner than that, but he also wouldn’t have lost his control over his second set of lungs – the ones made for fire and smoke. His time in Afghanistan, and they had never known of his dragon abilities.

Well, he snorted to himself. Not until the end, anyway, when he was spewing fire out on the load of weapons outside the cave. Now, he had weapons attached to the suit to mimic that, but Mark I had been a rudimentary suit – only armor while his stressed body was unable to shift.

The caged dragon couldn’t shift – at least, Tony was pretty sure he couldn’t, sure enough that he would bet his Tower on it. He wasn’t born a dragon; he was created, like Steve, so if he _could_ shift Tony would indeed be very surprised. But his eyes could still swirl with that dragon gold when he was under pressure, and a sheen of red scales appeared at his temples, smoke coming from his nostrils and teeth and nails sharp like daggers.

He had only briefly seen the scales and sharpened fingernails, before the man had seemed to gain a bit more control over that part of his transformation. He seemed wholly unable to stop the smoke and golden eyes, however, too stressed to worry about those parts of his appearance.

The door opened behind him, and Tony sensed Steve’s presence and didn’t bother turning around.

“No change, I see,” Steve sounded utterly disappointed as he looked at the monitor that showed the inside of the Hulk cage. The brunette dragon was sitting utterly still, back against the far wall on the one side that wasn’t glass. Occasionally he would twitch, like he was fighting the urge to spring up, but otherwise he may have been a statue with a smoke machine in his nose.

Tony sighed. “No, not as far as I can tell,” he murmured quietly. He glanced over at Steve, taking in the locked jaw and the pain so easily visible in his eyes. His eyes were their usual blue, too sad and worried to swirl golden. It was progress, because for most of the past several days his eyes had stayed permanently gold, too ramped up and angry at the world for what it had done to his best friend.

“I’m surprised you never noticed any of those dragon changes in him in the time you were together,” Tony commented, looking back at the man on the screen.

“You and me both,” Steve agreed quietly. “I remember right after I changed, I don’t think the gold disappeared from my eyes for a solid week. And I kept coughing up smoke for _months_ before I got used to breathing differently.”

Tony couldn’t exactly relate to that, having grown up with this other side of him and learning from a very young age how to control it so that the Stark family secret didn’t get out. He had been so young that he didn’t even remember now how he had gotten to the point that he had it under control.

So instead, he said, “I was thinking…it might be good for you to go inside again.”

Steve’s eyes snapped to Tony, equal parts alarmed and hopeful at the suggestion. “Why?” he asked bluntly. “Last time he attacked me, and he still snarls when he sees me on the other side of the glass. Why do you think it would be any different now?” It wasn’t said sarcastically, or rhetorically – Steve honestly wanted to know if Tony saw anything different that Bucky’s reaction might be different to him this time.

“See, that’s the thing,” Tony said, waving toward the monitor. “When we brought him in, he was way too agitated to catch anything. Instinct was all that was keeping him going, but he was more Winter Soldier than even dragon, let alone Bucky Barnes. And since then, you’ve only been on the other side of Hulk proof glass, where the air he’s getting runs through filtration.”

“You think he needs to smell me,” Steve finished Tony’s thought.

“I mean, maybe he’ll recognize that,” Tony said with a shrug. “He’s running on _dragon_ instincts, now. Maybe he’ll recognize his best friend for the ages.”

Steve blew out a breath; it was like a gunshot in the quiet room. Then he nodded and straightened his shoulders, the usual cool focus coming to his eyes that appeared every time he went into battle. Tony’s heart ached at the sight – Steve shouldn’t have that look when he was going to face his best friend.

But, the world was cruel and Hydra was filled with sick fucks, so they had to take what came their way now.

“I’ll be watching on the monitors so I don’t freak him out any more than he already is,” Tony told his lover. “Anything happens, you get the fuck out, and we’ll deal with repercussions. I have my suit on standby just in case.”

“Thank you, Tony,” Steve said, cupping the side of Tony’s neck, bending down and pressing a soft kiss to Tony’s lips that Tony tilted his head up to accept. Steve pulled back, thumb rubbing behind Tony’s ear as he finished, “I’ll be fine.”

Tony watched on the monitor as Steve appeared in Bucky’s line of sight. The caged brunette was immediately snarling, his eyes locked on the Captain as Steve took a few steps closer. The snarls rose in pitch as Steve drew nearer, crimson scales rippling across his temples and down his neck, disappearing into the collar of his shirt. Steve paid these signs of agitation no heed however as he typed in his personal access code to the cage, and as soon as the door opened with a hiss, the brunette fell silent and still, golden eyes watching the blond warily.

“Hey, Buck,” Steve said, cautious note in his voice that belied the confidence in the line of his shoulders. “Remember me?”

Then – _Steve you fucking idiot_ – he went forward, the door closing behind him as he crossed the distance between them.

“I’m Steve,” he went on, a bit of hope bleeding through his voice when Bucky didn’t move to attack. “Steve Rogers.”

It was quiet for a long moment, Bucky staring at the blond unblinkingly. Steve stood there, as though waiting for inspection, and Tony couldn’t help holding his breath, because Bucky wasn’t doing anything so maybe –

 _Holy fuck!_ Tony would never admit to the yelp that escaped him when Bucky lunged forward, one hand going against Steve’s head and one against his neck and practically threw him to the floor before immediately slinging his legs over to straddle him. His back was to the camera, shielding Steve from view, but Tony was no longer watching, bolting for the door and yelling, “ _Jarvis!_ ”

The suit came flying in pieces toward him, and it was fully assembled by the time he reached the door to the Hulk cage, fingers flying across the keypad to grant him entry.

Bucky whirled around with a snarl on his face when Tony entered, but continued to stay on top of Steve. His expression was feral and dangerous, just _daring_ him to attack and get him away from Steve. Curiously, Steve wasn’t actually fighting to escape, just lying there, but Tony didn’t have time to ponder that as he raised his repulsors to get him _the_ _fuck off_ his boyfriend.

“No, Tony, wait!” Steve yelped, and Tony hesitated when he saw Steve struggle a bit to sit up enough that he could see him. It was difficult, because Bucky had one arm pressed to Steve’s shoulder, keeping him down, but Tony could see Steve’s face enough to see that he looked unharmed. His eyes were golden now, and his cheeks were a bit flushed in a way Tony thought looked familiar but couldn’t quite put his finger on in his panic, but otherwise he looked completely fine.

“Tony, I’m okay, I promise,” Steve told him. Tony noticed that he had one arm on Bucky’s leg, pressing just firmly enough that he seemed to be holding _him_ back as well. “Just – just lift up your face plate, okay?”

Tony could think of zero reasons that that was a good idea, but he trusted Steve, and Bucky looked one misstep away from going full on Terminator mode, so he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and obeyed, popping the face plate up without a word.

Without the air filtration from the suit, he was completely unprepared for the wave of pheromones to _slam_ into Tony’s senses enough that he jerked his head back. Most of them were coming from Bucky, but some of them he recognized as Steve’s. He needed no words after that – Bucky may as well have been _screaming_ at him, _mine mine mine_ _mine_.

“Well,” Tony said after a moment wherein he regained his bearings after his senses had been so assaulted. He tried to push back the possessive feelings rising in him, the ones that insisted Bucky was stealing from his hoard. “I suppose this means he recognizes you, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys liked it! There will definitely be another chapter dealing with the aftermath of Bucky's claim, but we'll see when I actually end up writing it. XD


	6. Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony can see how obviously Barnes is trying to steal Steve. He wishes Steve could see it, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't think I could write all this so quickly, but my muse was with me and it only took a couple of hours. Yay!
> 
> And apparently the whole deal with Bucky couldn't be dealt with in less than 2000 words. This chapter is 3500, and I figured I'd break it up here because plot development. (You'll see.)
> 
> Warning ahead for lots of angst, because apparently I'm a slut for it who can't write a fic without it. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Tony didn’t like Barnes, and he was pretty sure that everyone in the Tower knew it.

Well, except for Steve, because he was much too focused on helping his precious _Bucky_ to notice how Tony felt anymore, apparently.

And Tony was self-aware enough to admit that that was largely the reason he didn’t like the former Winter Soldier. He was taking up all of Steve’s time, so Tony felt like he hardly even _saw_ Steve anymore. And when he did, he was snuggled up with Bucky, and they were scenting each other so much that Tony felt like he could _choke_ on the amount of pheromones floating around them.

If it had just been _Bucky_ exuding the possessive pheromones, Tony might not have been so upset about it all. The guy couldn’t help it, really – faced with the only thing familiar, even if he didn’t always remember _why_ Steve was familiar, it made sense that he would be possessive, would make sure that the one thing he knew wasn’t taken away from him. And while normally people couldn’t sense those claiming pheromones, with the amount Barnes was putting off even Natasha and Clint had noticed. And Tony really couldn’t blame the guy for that, honestly.

The problem, really, was that Steve just… _accepted_ it. Sure, the guy was his best friend, but really? You didn’t have to be part dragon to know what kind of pheromones Barnes was putting out, and sure, Tony trusted Steve not to cheat on him behind his back (or in the communal area, as the case may be), he didn’t quite trust that Steve might not just break up with him so that he could be with his long-lost war buddy.

And Tony was a _dragon_. He couldn’t help how selfishly possessive he was, especially when it came to matters of his hoard. He was _not_ giving Steve up without a fight. And if by some happenstance Barnes _did_ win that fight, then the rest of them – part of _Steve’s_ hoard too – would surely leave as well.

So, he couldn’t help hating Barnes, because the guy was a threat to his hoard in every conceivable way. And Steve just didn’t seem to _get_ it, because when Bucky put out those pheromones that warned everyone off of his hoard – his _Steve_ – Steve was only all too happy to return in kind, letting everyone know that Bucky was _his_ hoard, too. And when Tony drew near – not even to interact with their cuddle fest, just to hunt down some food, Jesus _Christ_ – and Bucky warned him off with a rumbling growl, Steve just asked Tony to give Bucky some more space, just until they got used to each other.

Like _that_ would ever happen, Tony snorted to himself. Bucky had warmed up _just fine_ to everyone else – they could even sit in the same room as Bucky and Steve, golly gee – but he still warned Tony off every time he got close enough that he even _might_ make eye contact with Steve. Steve had said it was probably just Bucky being antsy because he recognized Tony as the first one to have tried to separate them in the beginning, but Tony was almost entirely certain that that was untrue. Bucky saw Tony as a threat to his hoard, plain and simple. He clearly sensed the pheromones that bounced between Tony and Steve, the ones that said that they were each others’, and he was trying to keep them separated long enough that the pheromones would fade away and Bucky could jump in and take his place before Steve could even say, “it’s not you, it’s me.”

Tony growled to himself at the thought, because Steve was _his_ , and he wasn’t letting Bucky _or_ Steve screw that up.

“I recognize that growl,” a voice pulled him from his thoughts, and he didn’t have to look up to know that Sam Wilson was walking toward him.

Tony liked Sam, he really did. Sam had been there for the entire Hydra debacle, when Tony had been unable to go with Steve and Natasha to DC because he had been recovering from having his arc reactor removed. Sam had helped Steve from getting killed, had been his backup when Tony couldn’t be, and had been a friend to Steve since his little shit of a boyfriend had first said, “on your left.” Tony had claimed Sam as his long before Bucky had shown up in the Tower just a couple of days after Steve had returned.

Also, while Sam certainly didn’t loathe Barnes as much as Tony did, there was certainly no love lost between the two of them either, and he was the most sympathetic to Tony’s feelings on the matter out of anyone else in the Tower.

“What is it this time?” Sam said commiseratingly, sitting in the desk chair beside him and leaning back casually. He set the plate that he’d carried from downstairs down on the table beside Tony, and Tony swiped one of the apple slices, crunching into it ferociously.

“Oh, they’re just necking each other again, same as normal,” Tony grumbled, glaring in the direction of the elevator, and, presumably, toward Steve and Bucky.

Sam shook his head disbelievingly. “Man, I’m never going to get used to those dragon instincts and rituals,” he complained. “I know they’re just ‘scenting’ each other or whatever the hell you want to call it, but when you put it like that it sounds like they’re making out.”

“Are we really sure that they’re not?” Tony questioned darkly, grabbing one of the sandwich triangles off the plate. A piece of lettuce fell into his lap, but Tony paid it no heed, simply shoving a bite in his mouth.

Sam paused and looked at Tony. “Do you really think that Steve would do that to you?” he questioned, his voice not giving much away. Tony could still smell the incredulousness on him though, even if there were no visible markers in Sam’s expression to prove it.

“ _No_ ,” Tony said emphatically, frown deepening. Sam looked like he might be relieved for a moment, until Tony continued, “But I _do_ believe that dear old _Bucky_ would.” He shoved the rest of the sandwich triangle into his mouth, chewing it angrily.

Sam looked to be thinking deeply for a moment before he said, “What if Barnes has just forgotten what instincts to keep a hold of? What if he’s just accidentally putting off couple-y pheromones when he’s supposed to put off familial ones?”

“Well, that’s really not any better, is it?” Tony sniped. “His _instinct_ when confronted with Steve Rogers is to put off enough pheromones that he smells like he’s coming off a week-long sex marathon? And Steve, well used to his own dragon side and familiar with everything that goes with it, hasn’t corrected him? You’re right, Wilson, that should make me feel _loads_ better. Thanks for pointing that out.”

“Stop being an ass,” Wilson chided, nudging Tony’s foot with his own. “Have you actually _talked_ with Steve about any of this?”

Tony gave him a look. “Of _course_ I have,” he said, sounding almost insulted that Sam would suggest he _wouldn’t_.

Wilson put up his hands in surrender, even as he gave Tony a measuring look. “Forgive me, but since you have such a track record of not saying things clearly, what _exactly_ did you say to Steve?”

“I told him that he’s still mine, and Bucky can’t change that, no matter what he does with him,” Tony said immediately.

Sam raised an eyebrow, and didn’t have to turn that over in his head for more than a moment before he thought of a possible flaw.

“Mm-hm,” Sam said, unimpressed. “And did you tell this to him with the attitude you have now, all possessive alpha dragon and shit…”

“Dragons don’t _have_ a hierarchy suggested by your use of ‘alpha’…”

“… _Or_ ,” Sam talked over him with the same tone as before, “Did you tell him this so that it sounded like a promise, and that he could do what he needed with Bucky until he got his bearings again?”

Tony blinked, about to deny the last suggestion, when he thought back to his conversation that day with Steve, right after Steve had gone in to see Bucky and the ex-assassin had jumped him and started scenting him immediately. And, when Sam put it in _that_ light…

“Shit,” Tony cursed, eyebrows scrunching down in equal parts anger and disgust – with himself, with Steve, with Barnes, with the entire fucking situation.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Sam said, an expression on his face that said he was so done with this shit. “I think you and your boy need to have _another_ conversation. Word of advice? Try and draw from your human side here – you won’t be running on instinct so much.”

Tony heard the advice, but he didn’t bother acknowledging it, already going toward the elevator.

“Hey, J?” he called. “Where is Steve now?”

“Captain Rogers is in the communal kitchen, Sir,” Jarvis said, sounding pleased that Tony was being proactive and using his words for once. Tony paid it no mind – Jarvis could gloat all he wanted later.

Right now he had a boyfriend to claim again.

***

The elevator doors opened as silently as usual, and Tony immediately headed for the kitchen, where Jarvis had reported Steve would be.

He was so lost in his thoughts, berating himself for not making himself absolutely _clear_ to Steve from the beginning, that it actually took him until he was literally in the doorway of the kitchen before he noticed the particular scent of pheromones hanging around on the floor.

Really, he couldn’t have been blamed for it. He was so used to the pheromones that said _minemineminemine_ when he was even _close_ to Steve that his brain had automatically engaged the two as being normal, so he hadn’t even noticed the rush of pheromones when he stepped off the elevator.

Really, he kind of wished he _had_ noticed sooner, because now he was standing in the doorway, staring into the kitchen and unable to escape the very real evidence in front of him that Steve was slipping away from him.

The pheromones were no longer just possessive, though those were definitely there, and in strong abundance. Now though, it was mixed with arousal, and not just from Bucky but the familiar scent of _Steve’s_ arousal curled around his senses as well.

They weren’t doing anything different. They still had their noses buried in each others’ necks, and to anyone else it wouldn’t have looked any different from normal. But Tony could see the flush on Steve’s face – a very familiar flush that came when he got good and hard for Tony – and his eyes were fluttering like he was fighting the urge to show how truly aroused he was. It was a familiar expression that Tony had only ever seen when he was teasing Steve, acting unaffected in bed while looming over him. He had thought that that look was only for him.

Steve seemed to catch Tony’s scent then, because his eyes darted over to meet Tony’s, looking just a touch panicked, and Tony had a moment where his heart felt like it had failed him, like he still had the arc reactor and it had just been yanked from his chest and it _hurt_ , but Tony would take that a million times over _this_.

And then Bucky stiffened and turned, letting out a low growl to tell Tony to back off, and suddenly the hurt disappeared and Tony was _pissed_.

He wasn’t thinking when he opened his mouth without a word and let out a stream of fire toward Barnes, but he didn’t exactly regret it. They were dragons; it wouldn’t kill them, and any burns would be mild and heal quickly with the damn super soldier serum. Shame though, because Barnes dodged to the side, yanking Steve along with him, and the bag of onions on the counter behind them lit on fire instead.

“Tony!” Steve yelped, shocked and alarmed, but all of Tony’s furious gaze was focused on Barnes, who was staring Tony down just as darkly, sharp teeth bared in threat and golden eyes dangerously focused.

“He is _mine_ ,” he hissed angrily, feeling the fire burn at his core. “ _Not_ yours – back _off_!”

“ _Mine_ ,” was all Barnes growled in response, but that was all it took. It was the final straw that set the fire that had been burning in his belly for _days_ now to come roaring forth, and in moments he had shifted, scales and horns rippling over his body until he stood looming over the other brunette – this _interloper_ who had dared to come to steal from _his_ hoard.

“Holy _shit_ —” he vaguely heard Clint’s voice yelp from the entryway at the living room, before feet were running the other direction.

Tony wasn’t focused on that, though, because as soon as he had begun to shift, Bucky was rushing forward, knife suddenly in his hand and raised at him. Tony growled and batted him roughly aside with a large clawed paw. He opened his mouth to let out a stream of fire at the dangerous dragon now on the ground but not looking in any way beaten down enough, but just as he did, he felt a kick to the side of his head that forced his aim sideways. His fiery breath immediately cut off, but the brief breath was enough to have ignited the cabinets in flames.

He whirled to growl at the one who had ruined his aim, who had ruined his dealing with the thieving dragon beneath him, and saw that it was Clint who had descended from the air vent and kicked him on the way down and was now giving him a wary but also unimpressed look. He was immediately conflicted, because he couldn’t get rid of this one, either – _he_ was his, too.

So, he turned his attention from the archer and back to the ex-assassin who had gotten to his feet in Tony’s distraction and was now standing slightly crouched, ready to spring at Tony at the first move. His teeth were bared, his hands were curved in claws, his scales were shining in stark contrast against his pale skin, and his eyes swirled golden with so much rage and indignation that it immediately served to only stoke the fires of his own anger.

He growled fiercely and raised a clawed paw, ready to take the brunette down with a single bloody swipe, because that way he wouldn’t hurt his squishy human if he decided to get in the way of his fire again, and the other dragon was pulling his arm back to get ready to throw the dagger at him.

But before anything else could be done on _either_ of their parts, another dragon – _his_ dragon – darted between them, putting his hands up to keep them apart and letting out a loud, angry growl that would’ve caught their attention even without him being between the two of them. The two of them both immediately drew up short, not wanting to harm the very one they were fighting over.

“Stop it!” Steve shouted, looking angrily at Tony and not backing down one iota in the face of Tony’s literally fiery anger. The cabinets were still burning behind him, flames licking at the cabinets _above_ the counter now, too. “Tony, what the _hell_ is wrong with you?!”

 _He started it!_ Tony would’ve said if he could speak, but in this form, all that came out was an angry and indignant rumble.

Steve got the gist of it, anyway, and his glare only became more fierce, if possible. “I don’t care _what_ kind of instincts you’re running on, but you just tried to _kill_ my _best friend_. What the _hell_ , Stark?” his voice was cold, his expression like stone.

And Tony couldn’t help feeling like utter trash at that look. His more human instincts were coming to the forefront now, pushing his dragon instincts aside, and he too was horrified that he had almost killed the guy. He was still a son of a bitch who was trying to steal _his_ _mate_ , but a moment ago Tony had been ready to murder, and that was _never_ okay.

“Change back, Tony,” Steve said with that same cold voice. And Tony couldn’t do anything but obey, immediately willing his body to shrink and become human again. Clint, just behind him, relaxed slightly, but Tony paid him no mind.

“Care to explain?” Steve demanded, waving a hand in Barnes’ direction, whom Tony noticed had put all but one dagger away, eyeing him distrustfully over Steve’s shoulder.

“He’s trying to _take_ you, Steve!” Tony cried angrily, anger kindled again at the look he was receiving not only from Barnes, but also the one from Steve that he blamed Barnes for putting there. “And you’re _mine_!”

“You told me that nothing would change!” Steve said, throwing his hands up angrily. “You said that you were fine with us scenting!”

“Sure, but I never gave the go-ahead for you to have _sex_ with him!” Tony retorted, eyes warm in a way that he knew meant they were burning gold. Smoke poured from his nostrils like a faucet had been turned on, unable to hold it back with the anger and insecurity he was feeling.

Steve reared back at the accusation like he was slapped, cheeks pinkening it seemed in equal parts embarrassment and anger. “I would _never_ cheat on you, Tony!” he hissed, hand slicing through the air in a cutting motion.

“Maybe you ought to tell _him_ that, then, because he looked about ready to fuck you over the kitchen counter when I walked in!” Tony said with an angry gesture at Barnes. He vaguely heard Clint hiss a breath of surprise before he was retreating from the kitchen without a word. “And honestly, I think you would’ve _let_ him!”

Steve’s eyes narrowed angrily, his hands clenching in fists at his sides like he was resisting the urge to punch something. “How _dare_ you,” he said lowly.

“How dare _I_?” Tony repeated, practically hysterical by this point. “What do you have to show in your favor, Steve? You’ve been snuggling up to Barnes since the moment he climbed in your lap! Even now, all you’re doing is attacking _me_ for claiming what’s mine, and protecting _him_ like he’s completely innocent here!”

“ _You’re_ the one who just tried murdering him – you have a form that’s a lot stronger than his, of _course_ I’m protecting him,” Steve stressed, eyes still narrowed and nostrils flaring angrily. “Bucky has been adjusting – we’ve only been scenting, that’s it.”

Tony snorted, but there was no amusement in it. “Bull _shit_ , Rogers,” he said bluntly. “He’s been pumping out claiming pheromones like a goddamn drainage pipe, and _you’ve_ let him! You’re just as happy to accept his claim as he is to give it, and I don’t know if you’re too fucking _blind_ to see how he’s trying to steal you from _my_ hoard, or if you’re so excited to dump me and our hoard that you don’t care what _order_ it happens in as long as you get…” He snapped his mouth shut then, not having intended to reveal that much of his feelings and insecurities.

Steve’s expression softened though, realization lighting in his eyes, and his hands uncurled from their fists. He took a step forward, and then stopped, pressing his lips together and firming his expression once more.

“I have no intention of breaking up with you, Tony, and no intention of cheating on you – _ever_ ,” Steve told him quietly. “Bucky and I, we have – history – but nothing more than that.

“That being said, though,” Steve continued in a stronger voice, and the hope that had begun to flicker in Tony quickly died out at the look on his face, and he dreaded whatever he was about to say next. “You just tried to kill him. And I can’t…I can’t just forget that. I know your dragon instincts run stronger, but…” He shook his head and wiped a hand over his mouth, looking torn and so, so lost.

“I just need some time,” Steve finally said. At the look that must have been on Tony’s face, his expression gentled, just a bit, just enough for Tony to notice.

“Not forever,” he assured him. “I still love you, Tony, and you’re still mine, and I’m still yours. I just need some time to…time to think.”

Tony stared at him, feeling numb, and even though Steve _said_ he wasn’t breaking up with him, it sure as hell still _felt_ like he was. And it was painful, because Steve looked so torn and sad, and he knew he’d put that expression there and he hated himself for it. Barnes was still watching him, and maybe it was Tony’s imagination but he didn’t look quite so threatening anymore. Maybe that was the heartbreak, though.

Finally, before the silence could become awkward with them just standing there staring at each other, Tony gave a single, wordless nod.

And then, turning, he silently made his way to the elevator, and down to his workshop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALL THE ANGGGST.
> 
> Ahem. I should have the fallout of this confrontation up soon.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know!


	7. Interlude: Bucky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is protective, possessive, and then confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys...*sigh* I meant to have just a little snippet of Bucky's story, and then I was going to be done. But you can see how the chapter count went up yet AGAIN, because I'm having way too much fun with this bit. Who even knows how many chapters there are going to be at this point? I certainly don't...

When Bucky had arrived at the Tower, he had hardly been with it enough to know where he was. Everything smelled sharp around him, like warm metal in the desert, and he had felt too wired and strung out to really process the people.

When he _did_ become more aware of his surroundings, he only saw the people who watched him from the other side of the glass as more scientists – and he _hated_ scientists, even more than his handlers or the technicians. And he knew that they must be scientists, because why else would they lock him in a glass cage to better observe him? He waited for the testing to start any day, only growing all the more tense as time passed and he was mostly left alone.

And then the blond – Steve, he knew now – had come into the cage, closing the door behind him, and he didn’t have any tools or equipment but he _knew_ that it was coming and so he stayed very still, hiding his terror and waiting for the experimentation to begin.

But Steve had stopped before getting too close, and he told him his name and Bucky had been holding his breath for too long by then in anticipation of pain, and he’d had to inhale.

Immediately, he had caught a whiff of something he didn’t remember but that some deep and dormant part of his brain recognized as _home_ and _safe_ and _protect_ and he was confused, couldn’t comprehend it and he wasn’t close enough to the smell so he had grabbed the source of it and thrown him to the ground – quickly, so he couldn’t escape and take away the smell and all the feelings that went along with it – before straddling the man across his hips and grabbing him by the wrists, pressing his arms against his chest so that he couldn’t fight back and then he was nosing into his neck, feeling the pulse point jump and sending out a fresh wave of the wonderful smell and he thought _yes, yes, mine, you’re mine_ and had to get closer, had to smell _more_ and he licked at the pulse point that the scent came from strongest and the man beneath him startled slightly so he nuzzled him, saying with his scent, _mine, you’re safe, you’re mine_ until the man relaxed in his hold and he licked his neck again both in reward and because he really liked the smell and how _good_ it made him feel.

And then the door was hissing open behind him and metallic clanking echoed through the area and he whirled around with a snarl, warning whoever had intruded that this man – Steve Rogers – was _his_.

He would have attacked immediately, except that Steve Rogers had somehow gotten one hand free and was holding onto his leg like he wanted to keep him back, and okay, if he said no then that meant he wouldn’t but he didn’t want to let the metal man know that so he just waited for him to try something. He would attack if he did, because Steve Rogers was _his_ and this man needed to know that.

And then Steve Rogers was telling the man something, and the man’s face moved up to reveal another face beneath it and _oh_ , it was another dragon he would understand that Steve Rogers was _mine mine mine_.

Except that over the next several days, the metal dragon man didn’t seem to _get it_. He kept showing up when he was nuzzling into Steve Rogers, and he smelled upset at his – Bucky, he had been told his name was – claim upon the blond dragon man. But Bucky wasn’t backing down, because Steve Rogers was _his_ and why did everyone else understand this but not the metal dragon man? Steve Rogers did not protest Bucky’s claim, and Steve Rogers was his own person so Bucky was certain that the metal dragon man had no claim and he was just encroaching on Bucky’s hoard. Yes, he knew that Steve Rogers and the metal dragon man claimed each other, but they also claimed everyone else living in the Tower so Steve Rogers was not just his but he was also _his_. And he wouldn’t mind the metal dragon man claiming Steve Rogers as his own, just so long as he knew that Steve Rogers was _his_ – Bucky’s.

But he saw no sign of that happening any time soon so whenever he sensed the metal dragon man come into the room with those disgusting pheromones that tried to claim Steve Rogers as _his_ , Bucky warned him off with a growl and a golden-eyed glare. And Steve Rogers always told the metal dragon man to leave when he did, so Bucky knew that the advances and the claim of the metal dragon man were unwanted and Bucky was right to warn him away.

And things were going nicely, because over the course of nine days he spent most of his time with Steve Rogers, and it felt _good_ because it was safe and it was comfortable and he never wanted it to end. He wanted to be with Steve Rogers forever, and he was certain that Steve Rogers felt the same way because he exuded the same smell that Bucky did when they nosed each other.

He was in the kitchen, following Steve Rogers as they began to find food for lunch, and he couldn’t resist smelling Steve Rogers again when he stood in front of the refrigerator, looking for inspiration of what to make.

And Steve Rogers was turning, easily returning the affection, just as he always did, and when he licked the pulse point on Steve Rogers’ neck, the man shuddered slightly beneath him, fingers tightening on Bucky’s arms for an instant and _oh_ that was a new smell, but it smelled even better than the ones before, and he wanted more so he licked his neck again.

He was enjoying this new smell, the sweetness it added to everything _else_ about Steve Rogers, when the man suddenly stiffened beneath him. It took Bucky a moment longer, but then he recognized the smell at the doorway and growled in equal parts frustration and warning as he turned to meet the metal dragon man’s gaze, daring him to try something.

From there, things got a bit hazy as the metal dragon man changed to be a full dragon, looming over them, and Bucky worried that maybe he was going to hurt Steve Rogers because Steve Rogers did not accept his claim but accepted Bucky’s, and he couldn’t let that happen so he retaliated.

And then Steve Rogers was standing between them, keeping them apart, and – _no Stevie, you’re gonna get hurt, you punk_ – he was talking the metal dragon man down, and Bucky eyed him distrustfully even when he turned into a man again.

And then…and then…things got worse.

Bucky was so confused, listening to their conversation, because the metal dragon man – Tony, he had to remember – had outright made his claim on Steve Rogers, _to_ Steve Rogers, and Steve Rogers wasn’t denying it. In fact, he was very much encouraging it, and telling Tony that Bucky was his best friend and he wouldn’t cheat on Tony, and that – that made no sense. Because Bucky had claimed Steve Rogers, and Steve Rogers had claimed him right back, but why would he do that if Tony and Steve Rogers had already claimed each other?

_Bucky and I, we have – history – but nothing more than that._

He was so lost and confused, probably as lost and confused as Tony felt right now, as he walked away from Steve Rogers to be alone.

_You’re still mine, and I’m still yours._

Steve Rogers didn’t look at him as he turned and walked out of the kitchen, didn’t even glance back as he went to sit on the couch they usually sat on. After a moment, Bucky followed him, thoughts whirling and a bit panicked, because none of this made _sense_ anymore because he had thought that the metal dragon man, that Tony, had been an enemy who was trying to steal from his hoard, but if Steve Rogers and Tony had already been each others’ before Bucky had arrived, then what did that make Bucky?

He sat down next to Steve Rogers, but he didn’t press his nose to his neck like normal and like he really wanted to at the moment because he didn’t like this feeling, this – being _scared_ and he knew that Steve Rogers’ scent would make him feel better but maybe Steve Rogers and his scent didn’t belong to Bucky after all.

“Are you and the metal dragon man – hoard mates?” Bucky finally asked when they were silent for much too long and the question was burning him up from the inside out so much that he just _had_ to know immediately, no matter how much he suspected the answer might hurt.

Steve Rogers lifted his face from his hands and looked at Bucky oddly – a bit confused, but also a bit guilty, and Bucky knew the answer before the blond said it.

“Yes,” Steve Rogers said, voice wavering a bit. “I thought – you didn’t – you didn’t know that?”

“I don’t understand,” Bucky non-answered. “You – you claimed me.”

“Yes,” Steve Rogers said tiredly, rubbing a hand over his face. “I did. I _do_. But – not the same way I claim Tony. I’m sorry, I thought – I thought you knew that.”

“You never claimed Tony the same way you claimed me,” Bucky said, and his voice came out accusing even though he didn’t mean for it to. "You don't even sleep with him."

Steve Rogers dropped his face in his hands again, looking enormously guilty. “That’s because I’m an _ass_ ,” he moaned. “I didn’t think – he just – I – you needed my help, Buck; you _still_ do. And I was just so focused on helping you that I…I completely neglected Tony.” The last sentence came out in a breathy sob, and Bucky didn’t know how to react to that but then he didn’t know how to react to many emotions, so this was nothing new.

“God, no _wonder_ he sees you as a threat,” Steve Rogers said with a self-disgusted twist of his lips. “And with _you_ thinking the same thing…” He trailed off there, rubbing his eyes with both hands before looking up and meeting Bucky’s gaze.

“I am truly _so_ sorry for this whole misunderstanding,” he expressed genuinely, his face a picture of guilt. “I’m not – I can’t be with you like that; I have Tony.”

Bucky paused, blinking as he pondered this for a moment. He had been certain that the pheromones that Steve Rogers exuded meant the kind of claim that he now said he claimed Tony with. But now Steve Rogers said that it was different? So what about their claim on each other would be different, then?

Finally he questioned in utter confusion, “What do you do with Tony that is different than what you want with me?”

Unexpectedly, Steve Rogers’ face flushed bright red and his gaze darted away from Bucky’s. Rubbing his hands together, he muttered, “Um…well, Tony and I sleep together.”

Bucky’s brow only creased in further confusion. “I don’t understand,” he said. “You and I have slept in the same room for eight nights now. Five of those nights we slept in the same bed. You have not slept with Tony - I would have noticed.” At least, he's pretty sure he would have. Sometimes his brain is fuzzy and he has a hard time remembering things. But he's pretty sure he's right about this one.

Steve Rogers bit his lip and said awkwardly, “It’s…a modern euphemism for sex,” he rushed out like he couldn’t wait to get the words out there so they could be over with.

“I see,” Bucky said ponderously. Steve Rogers’ face was just beginning to turn back to normal color when Bucky clarified, “And you _don’t_ want to have sex with me?”

Steve Rogers mumbled something to himself that even with super soldier hearing Bucky couldn’t quite catch, before he spoke up for Bucky’s benefit. “Tony is mine, Bucky, and I’m his. I know that you – _want_ that kind of claim for you, and I’m sorry that I didn’t make things clear from the beginning, but I’m already spoken for.”

Bucky clicked his tongue thoughtfully inside his mouth. “But you were already mine,” he then said. “That’s – you were, weren’t you? When you came into the glass cage, you smelled like…like home. Like safe. You said that I knew you before I was the Winter Soldier.”

“We did, Bucky,” Steve Rogers said, looking very, very sad, and Bucky ached to do something to take away that expression but he didn’t know what to do now that apparently Steve Rogers wasn’t his after all. “I didn’t even know that you’d been made a dragon, though – we never claimed each other that way. Though I suppose perhaps your instincts claimed me, but we never – we never made each other our hoard. You were mine, but I wasn’t yours.”

 _But then why did I recognize you?_ Bucky didn’t say, because no matter what he asked, it was always the same answer, and he didn’t want to hear again from Steve Rogers’ own lips that they didn’t belong to each other. He was beginning to feel a tight knot in his chest, and he wondered idly if his heart was failing him. Odd that it had worked for so long and through so much torture over the years, but now decided to stop working. He wondered if his body aged on the inside but not the outside, and he was having a heart attack. He would be almost a hundred now, wouldn’t he?

“I’m going to go put out the fire,” Bucky stated, rising to his feet and startling Steve Rogers with his suddenness. The blond didn’t protest though, which was good because they really didn’t need that fire spreading and burning down the Tower. He grabbed the fire extinguisher on the way to the kitchen, spraying it all over the cupboards. They would definitely need to be replaced, but at least the floor and the ceiling were still intact.

As he sprayed the white foam over the fire, he imagined that he was also choking out the flames that had just begun to flicker to life in his own heart when he had met Steve Rogers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really tried to keep it Stony. But Bucky just really wanted in to the relationship and now it's going to be OT3. Is anyone honestly surprised? I don't know why I still am. Stuckony is the best.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts!


	8. Counting Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky clears up a few things with Tony.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully people are still here for this...one day I will wrap up this fic. :/ Sorry for the month long wait! Hope you like this bit. :)

It had been four days since Tony had kissed Steve.

It was an odd way of counting things, he reflected. Kisses. They used to kiss all the time, could hardly keep their hands off each other. It was that inherent dragon nature that had them wanting to let everyone know that the other was claimed, but Tony also suspected that he and Steve were just naturally possessive people already. Being part dragon just exacerbated it. And when they kissed, it was a promise. A reassurance, that everything was okay when they had each other (cheesy as that sounded).

Now, the last time Steve and Tony had kissed had been the night before the kitchen fiasco. Steve had kissed Tony before he had gone to spend the night in his room, as he had for the seven nights previous since Bucky had recognized him in the cage, the same room that Steve had spent less than a month in before he had moved in with Tony. The floor had been practically obsolete for several months, only working as a space for his art when he wanted to create in solitude.

Tony had _hated_ Steve going to his floor for the night. When he had told Steve in the beginning, in the way that he now knew was the wrong tone, that Steve would always be his no matter what, he had assumed that Steve would help his friend, but he hadn’t thought he would leave their bed. He’d had no reason to suspect that Steve would abandon his _hoard_ to help Bucky with his adjustment. T

That had been one of the most painful things of all, not sleeping with Steve anymore – just sleeping, he wasn’t even concerned about the sex at this point. He’d thought that his years of sleeping alone and away from his hoard would have made it not so bad when Steve left, but he had unknowingly and unfortunately gotten used to sleeping with some of his hoard – the most important part – that now it was incredibly jarring to be without it.

So, Tony didn’t sleep. He stayed in his workshop, sometimes being productive but most of the time just tinkering. He was a bit surprised that everyone left him alone for so long – that didn’t happen, _ever_. He didn’t emerge for forty-eight hours and inevitably _someone_ came down to shove him into a bed, because they all knew him well enough to know that when he was in the workshop, he didn’t sleep. Contrary to popular belief, the couch in there was not for power naps – it was for when his heart became strained since he’d become Iron Man and he needed to sit for a minute and let it go back to its _normal_ disfunctionality.

Now though, it had been eighty-seven hours and fourteen minutes since he’d sequestered himself in his workshop, and he couldn’t help the dark thoughts that it must be because everyone else was on Steve and _Bucky’s_ side, and figured he deserved to wallow down here alone.

Not that he was wallowing. No, he was waiting for Steve to sort out his shit, but he wasn’t going to hold his breath for it because while Tony loved him, he would be the first to admit that he was a stubborn son of a bitch and it would be a while before Steve came to his senses.

Not that Tony believed still that it was okay to kill Barnes in retaliation. With his human instincts closer to the surface now, he could see in hindsight that he may have been a bit… _hasty_ in his decision to roast the guy like a kebab.

Well, not like a kebab. He would’ve had to impale him first for that, and – nope not thinking about that, it was all kinds of wrong.

His point still stood though. He knew that he would definitely regret killing the other dragon as soon as he came to his senses and out of his jealousy-fuelled rage, so he was glad not only that Clint had stopped him from roasting him with the kick to the head, but also that Steve had finally gotten between them and stopped it entirely.

Still, though. He definitely still hated the other dragon. It’s just that now he recognized that slaughtering him would be a bit…hasty.

He growled low in his throat at the thought of Barnes again – not that he ever really _stopped_ thinking about this whole situation, but sometimes the anger just flared up – and wrenched a screw into place with particular viciousness.

“Sir,” Jarvis voiced above him, “You have a visitor requesting entry.”

Tony supposed it must be Sam or Clint, as they knew the most about the situation and were most likely to try to talk him into communicating with his mate or some shit. He was surprised a little that it had taken them this long to approach the workshop, but better late than never, he supposed.

“Let ‘im in, J,” Tony grunted, moving on to the next screw. He heard the door swish open, and as he finished screwing in the piece, he called back pettily, “And here I thought everyone had moved out of the Tower.”

“I’m thinking maybe I should have grabbed some kind of shield for this…”

“Holy ­– _fuck_ – ” Tony cursed, startled enough that he jerked, causing the screwdriver to slip and slide across the back of his hand, causing a long but shallow cut from the sharp point. He whirled around to see Barnes, standing in the doorway and looking a bit wary to be standing in this near vicinity to Tony.

“What the hell, J?” Tony demanded, going to the sink to rinse the cut. He didn’t know what kind of shit the end of his screwdriver had been in, and he didn’t need to be contracting some kind of disease on top of his _already_ weakened immune system. “Why didn’t you tell me it was _him_ who wanted in?”

“Because I knew you would not let him in if you knew, Sir,” Jarvis said, sounded smug.

Tony scowled, ignoring the sting when he washed over the cut with soap. “That should’ve been your first clue,” he growled.

“I told him what I wanted to talk to you about,” Barnes cut in uncertainly, glancing around the shop with slightly widened eyes. It was probably more of the twenty-first century than Barnes had ever seen – he _should_ be awed, he thought smugly.

“I think he wants you to hear it too, so he let me in,” Barnes went on, twisting the hem of his shirt in one hand. Tony had never seen him so nervous before, and he narrowed his eyes, almost certain that it was an act after all of the snarling and warning him off Steve for the past…well, the entire time he’d known him, really.

“What happened to your claws?” Tony sneered, drying his hands with a paper towel and throwing it away when he was finished.

“Pushed back by confusion,” Barnes answered promptly, and Tony blinked, not having expected an answer like that as Barnes went on to explain, “The Soldier knows he’s useless here, so he’s been gone for a while. The dragon has been in control, on instinct, for several days because of the threat to its hoard.”

“It is _not_ your hoard,” Tony snarled immediately, hackles rising. “Steve is _mine_.”

Barnes closed his eyes, visibly curbing his instinct to leap forward at the threat in Tony’s voice. Opening them, he looked at Tony, and Tony noticed that his eyes were dotted with gold. Not the full golden when instincts were running high, but just enough to let him know how much he was holding back.

“I know he’s not my hoard mate,” Barnes said plainly, and his voice was even in a way that implied it took a lot of effort to get there. “But before, going on instincts, I didn’t know that.”

Tony paused at this information, mind working quickly and things suddenly lining up in his head in a way that made a lot more sense.

“You thought _I_ was stealing _your_ mate,” he realized. “That’s why you always warned me off when I got close.”

Barnes nodded once, looking unhappy but remarkably even-keeled about the whole thing. “I recognize him,” he said. “I didn’t – _don’t_ – recognize anyone else. And so I thought – that he was mine. _All_ mine.”

Tony blinked, processing this, before he narrowed his eyes. “Mating pheromones don’t just _happen_ , Barnes,” he said sharply, and he flinched, just slightly, but enough that Tony noticed. It’s what pretty much confirmed his theory, but he still asked anyway, just to be certain. “You loved him _before_ , didn’t you? The mating pheromones have been instinct.”

Barnes looked away. “I’m not going to steal your hoard mate, Stark,” he said lowly, pain carefully masked. “The dragon is – attempting to understand. After all this. But I’ll get there, and Steve will just be – hoard. Nothing else.”

Tony decided to have pity on the guy, and steered mentally away from that particular doubtlessly painful topic. He unfortunately knew exactly what it felt like to watch someone stealing your hoard mate, and even though it was straighter in Barnes’ head now, instinct could not be so easily tempered. Surprisingly, he actually found himself not hating the other dragon so much anymore, knowing what mindset Barnes had been operating under.

Still, that didn’t help him feel better about _Steve’s_ reaction to it all. He didn’t have the excuse of being brainwashed for decades into an amnesiac assassin.

“What does Steve have to say about all this?” Tony questioned, still a bit wary but trying to tell himself to relax.

Bucky frowned. “He doesn’t seem to get it,” he said plainly. “He said there’s not a difference between pheromones, that they’re all the same claim. But – it seems different to _me_.”

Tony gaped at the other man, utterly stunned by what Steve apparently thought. “What the _fuck_?” he said expressively. “All pheromones are the _same_? Is that _really_ what he thinks?”

Bucky looked uncertain. “So – they _are_ different? I’m not just – interpreting it different after my brain’s been scrambled a few thousand times?”

“Damn _right_ they’re different,” Tony growled, tossing a rag to the ground in his frustration. “And I really can’t say if Steve is completely oblivious or if the stubborn bastard just doesn’t want to admit he’s _wrong_. I think I need to have a talk with a particularly obstinate blond.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, no harsh criticism, but let me know what you thought!


	9. Setting Things Straight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve realizes just how badly he's messed up.

Steve had been drowning in guilt for almost four days now.

He kept reviewing the past couple of weeks, all of his actions and Bucky’s and Tony’s, and trying to pick apart _where_ it had all gone so _wrong_. He had thought that they were all on the same page, that Steve was trying to help his best friend and that Tony was okay with it.

Now, he’d come to find out that not only did Bucky have the wrong idea, that Bucky wanted…wanted to be _hoard mates_ with him, and had thought that Steve wanted the same, but Tony had actually been feeling slighted the whole time, too. Tony thought he was cheating, going after Bucky and leaving Tony behind.

Steve wanted to growl at the thought, and in the privacy of his own living room, where no one could hear, he did. Because yes, he _had_ wished to be with Bucky, before, during the War and even when they were still living together and he was skinny and sick all the time. But he had never once gotten the impression that Bucky had wanted the same thing, and so it had never gone anywhere. And even when Bucky came back, he was with _Tony_ now. Even with lingering feelings, and the memory of his desire for the Bucky of Before, he never would have done anything with Bucky. He never would have pursued anything, because he had _Tony_. He would never do that to him, he _wouldn’t_.

But Tony had been so certain, and that _hurt_ , but Steve had to have done something to have put that certainty there. It hadn’t just been Tony’s insecurities talking there.

He just couldn’t figure out what he had _done_. So he wasn’t around Tony so much anymore, and they didn’t sleep together, but…those were small things, surely. They weren’t permanent – Tony _had_ to know that.

But Bucky…Bucky had thought he was going after him, too. It wasn’t just Tony thinking these things. Why hadn’t someone said something? Surely the other Avengers had to have noticed, and yet they couldn’t – ?

No, Steve scolded himself. This was no one else’s fault but his own – he shouldn’t look for reasons to blame anyone else. That wasn’t fair to anyone.

He just couldn’t figure out what he had done. It didn’t stop him from drowning in the guilt though, because clearly the entire misunderstanding was _his_ fault. Not Bucky’s, and certainly not Tony’s.

He remembered the confrontation in the kitchen, running over it yet again, trying to pick apart something he might have missed.

Suddenly he recalled what had happened just before Tony had come in. Bucky had been scenting him, and it had been normal, but for the first time when Bucky had licked him he had licked right over his scent glands, and it had surprised him with the sudden arousal that went through him and he’d tried to hide it even when Bucky licked him again. And he knows that he wouldn’t have gone farther than that, but – Tony must have smelled his arousal just before coming in. He remembers the feeling of being caught, but he had swept all that aside when Tony had shifted before him and gone on the offense.

He suddenly realized – he _had_ been cheating. Not intentionally, and not sexually exactly, because he wouldn’t have gone farther, but what he and Bucky had been doing was very personal. It was an emotional bond, and while Steve saw it as just affection for his best friend, to everyone else it was more than that.

He didn’t know how to fix this, he realized, pacing the length of his living room. He didn’t want to break up with Tony, but did Tony even deserve to have to deal with a mess like him? At this point it would probably be better for Tony to be with _Bucky_ , because at least then –

The door separating the hallway from the living room slammed open, startling him out of his spiraling thoughts, and he jumped, looking up to see Tony storming in with a thunderous expression on his face. It was not unlike the look he’d given Bucky before attacking, but unlike where that one was laced with jealousy and possessiveness, this one was just – betrayed.

“What the _hell_ , Rogers?” Tony snarled, and Steve had the brief, insane thought that Tony had heard his thoughts about Tony not deserving to have to be with him before he realized that Tony had to be upset about something else. He hadn’t seen Tony since the confrontation in the kitchen, so he didn’t know what had reignited Tony’s anger, but he found himself gratified to see that rather than the heartbreak that he had last seen adorning Tony’s face.

“Your boy Barnes just came and visited me in the shop,” Tony told him with a scowl, flexing his fingers like he was fighting the urge to shift his form to have sharper claws and make his attack more physical than verbal. “Nice guy, Barnes. He’s been enlightening me on a few things, and I’d just like to know where the _hell_ you get off on the idea that ‘all pheromones are the same’?!”

Steve blinked in utter confusion. What was Tony talking about? Why was he upset about a part of dragon physiology? He’d been a dragon longer than any of them – he was more familiar with it. And it really didn’t make sense that Tony would be mad at _Steve_ about this. Steve couldn’t change it.

“What?” he said, feeling lost. What was the point of this conversation? He felt like he was hearing something totally out of context and he didn’t like the feeling.

Tony snarled in frustration, clenching his hands before visibly forcing them to relax. Or, at least unclench.

“You told Barnes that your claiming pheromones for him are the same as they are for me because there’s no difference between pheromones for a part of your hoard and for your hoard mate,” he said with a clenched jaw.

“Yes…?” Steve prodded, waiting for the point.

“There are different pheromones!” Tony said, throwing up his hands. “And you can’t tell me you don’t know that – you’ve been a dragon for _years_ now! According to your bullshit, I should be able to have sex with everyone, but ‘ _oh_ , it’s _different_ , because I don’t feel like that about them so it doesn’t count!’ Bull _shit_ , Rogers! That’s still cheating!”

“I don’t understand anything going on right now,” Steve admitted helplessly, because the conversation had taken a turn he was unprepared for, and his dragon was stirring angrily within with the urge to make his claim, because Tony was talking about having sex with others and that wasn’t _right_ but his human side was telling him not to go on the defensive while he was so lost because it would just push Tony away, proving something awful about himself in the process. He needed to figure out what was going on, or he was going to lose his hoard mate and the very _idea_ of that made something within him wither and choke in fear.

Tony’s lips twisted, and he stared at Steve searchingly for several moments before he blew out a gust of air and shook his head. “Holy shit, he really _is_ that clueless,” he told the air, before fixing Steve with a very deliberate Look. Steve remained still, feeling something charging in the air and waiting to see what would happen.

Tony’s voice was almost deceptively calm when he spoke again, and Steve might have been fooled if he didn’t know Tony, or if he hadn’t seen the flecks of gold beginning to swirl in his eyes, ready to be unleashed into full golden at the slightest provocation.

“So with all pheromones being the same, you won’t feel any different when I do this,” he said, and a moment later Steve felt…empty. Something had shifted almost unnoticeably in the air, but Steve definitely felt the effects of whatever it was – it punched into his chest like a gunshot, leaving something not quite blank but like something had been stolen from him. He felt tears burst into his eyes, and he blinked quickly, trying to hold it back and choke back the feeling of _wrong_ that was stealing from what felt like his very soul.

“What…what is that?” Steve choked, trying to claw that feeling back that he hadn’t even realized was there until it was gone. “That’s wrong – what _is_ that?”

Tony stared at him unflinchingly for a long minute, and for a wild moment Steve was certain he was going to just leave him like this, without answers and struggling to breathe through this broken feeling, uncertain how to fix it or bring it back.

Then Tony’s expression softened, just a bit, and the feeling went away, and Steve could have cried again at the comfort that replaced the cold feeling, like he’d just been wrapped in a fuzzy blanket after standing out in the snow for too long.

“That’s what it feels like when your mate shuts off the claiming pheromones,” Tony told him, face blank. “I sent mere _hoard_ pheromones your way instead. It feels different to you because you recognize me as your hoard mate, and the wrongness is because you know you’re supposed to be more than just hoard.” His face went heartbreakingly vulnerable for a moment. “You really still love me, don’t you?”

Steve felt like the air was punched out of him again, and for a moment he thought that Tony had sent out the different – God, of _course_ they were different – pheromones again before he recognized that it was just his usual ever-present guilt, ramped up tenfold. He’d gotten Tony to doubt his _love_ with his actions. God, he was such a failure.

“I do,” Steve choked out, wanting to bring Tony into a hug but not feeling like he had the right to. Not now. “God, I _do_ , Tony, I love you _so_ much, more than _anything_. Have I…?”

Tony understood the question that Steve couldn’t ask, and immediately shook his head. “No, you haven’t been doing that to me,” he assured Steve. “I wouldn’t be here if you had. I just – how can you not know that the pheromones you release are _different_?” He sounded exasperated, and Steve didn’t blame him. How _didn’t_ he realize the difference? Sure, he’d never felt another dragon’s pheromones and couldn’t differentiate that way, and he hadn’t known that Bucky wanted to claim him the same way Tony did, and he knew that Tony loved him as a mate and so it seemed logical at the time that the pheromones were the same…

Tony shook his head again in frustration, probably thinking something along the same lines. “Come with me,” he ordered, turning on his heel to go to the elevator. “I’ll show you the difference with someone else.”

Steve followed tentatively, not really sure what Tony’s plan was but feeling sorry enough that he would grovel if Tony wanted him to, so following him wherever he wanted him to go was really a no-brainer. Even his dragon was okay for once with the other dragon taking charge.

JARVIS seemed to know intuitively where Tony wanted to go, and wordlessly took them down to the communal floor. Tony went out first, and Steve followed, looking around and seeing that only Natasha was sitting at the counter, eating a bowl of fruit salad and reading something on her tablet. She looked up at them and raised an eyebrow in question, not willing to ask what was going on but clearly seeing something different in their postures and their expressions.

“Mind if I use you to make a point, Tash?” Tony asked, politely enough but with irritation still lacing his voice.

“Go for it, Stark,” Natasha consented, turning her gaze to Steve in curiosity. Steve didn’t know what was going on though, so he couldn’t explain anything to her even if he wanted. He trusted Tony though, and he owed him more than he could say, so he was glad that Natasha was willing to go along with whatever –

Natasha was a _threat_ to his _hoard mate_ , he realized suddenly, unable to stop the growl growing in his chest or the death glare he sent her way. She looked as unaffected as she always did, and abruptly it made him so _angry_ , that she didn’t even see him as a threat, when she was encroaching on _his_ territory. He wanted to rip her head from her shoulders, to ruin that always-perfect hair and make her so _sorry_ that she had gone after what was _his_ , and –

Abruptly the rage disappeared, and he blinked at the change, suddenly horrified at the thoughts he’d had about his teammate. God, where had that come from?

He hardly noticed Tony thanking Natasha and guiding him away and back to the elevator. Numbly, he followed Tony back to his floor.

“That’s what you and Bucky have been throwing at each other,” Tony’s voice broke through his mental anguish, voice carefully neutral, and he looked up to see Tony watching him.

“That’s what I’ve been doing to you?” Steve said, horrified. Tony nodded once, still watching him – probably testing him.

Steve didn’t care about tests right now though, because he suddenly understood exactly what he had done wrong, and he was _so sorry_ for doing that to his hoard mate. He lunged forward, not feeling like he had a right to kiss Tony but needing to provide some kind of reassurance and having to settle for rubbing his cheek against Tony’s jaw, holding him close in his arms.

“I’m sorry, I – I didn’t _know_ ,” Steve said, hoping desperately that Tony would understand. “I wouldn’t – I wouldn’t do _any_ of that on purpose, no matter _who_ it is. You’re my mate. _You_ are.”

Tony’s arms came around Steve then, finally accepting the hug and returning Steve’s affections with scenting of his own, reassuring him.

“I believe you,” Tony said against his neck, beard scraping against his skin but Steve didn’t care.

A moment later, there was a rough bite at the juncture where his neck met his shoulder, and Steve startled, growling on instinct at the dominant gesture, but a moment later he shoved it down and went limp in Tony’s grasp, taking the chastisement for what it was. It was only when he went limp and accepted it that Tony’s jaw opened, releasing him from his grasp. He didn’t lave his tongue over the mark as he would have normally, if they were play fighting in bed, but Steve didn’t mind. He deserved so much worse than this. Tony was incredibly forgiving. The bite was proof of that – punishment, and without immediate soothing, which meant that forgiveness would come but not yet.

Tony pulled back from the kind-of hug then, and Steve met his eyes shamefully, seeing as the gold began to swirl away to normal brown before he looked down submissively, apologetically.

Tony put a hand under Steve’s chin, tilting his head back up to meet his eyes again, and Steve immediately obeyed. Whatever Tony wanted, Steve would do it, even something as simple as making eye contact.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s going to take some time to go back to normal again after all this,” Tony told him seriously. “And it’s probably never going to be the same as it was before. Bucky is still here, and he’s not going anywhere. You still have all of that to deal with, too.” A whine escaped at that, unbidden, as Steve remembered the hurt that he had put _Bucky_ through, too. His cheeks flushed in embarrassment at the childish noise a moment later, but Tony only chuckled.

“Yeah, I don’t envy you that,” Tony told him. “But, I think it will be okay now. Barnes and I have a bit of an understanding.” Tony’s lips quirked up wryly at that, and Steve fought the urge to ask just what that understanding was, and what the two had talked about that had Tony feeling much more forgiving all of a sudden. It was their own business – he wasn’t going to intrude. He didn’t have that right; not now, maybe not ever. Steve told himself he was okay with that.

“In the meantime,” Tony went on, “You really need to learn more about dragons. We don’t need things like this happening again.”

Steve shuddered at the thought, because this whole experience – it was _horrible_. Not just for him, but for the two people he loved most in the world. He would do whatever it took, agree to _anything_ , to make sure that these two weren’t hurt like this ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I got Steve's thought process right on this. I worked at it for a while before it just started seeming repetitive, and then it sounded like he was making excuses to everyone including himself, so I decided to just quit while I was ahead.
> 
> I hope you liked it - there should be just an epilogue now!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Our Hoard: Remix](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18328280) by [HashtagLEH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HashtagLEH/pseuds/HashtagLEH)




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